Environmental Assessment Studies Research Articles

Occurrence of PAH in marine organisms and sediments from smelter discharge in Norway

Norwegian aluminium works have each discharged 1–10 tons or more of PAH per annum directly into fjords, most of which originates from the scrubbing of hall gas in connection with Söderberg technology and from the production of anodes. In recent years, discharges have been considerably reduced, but still > 10 tons per year are discharged from the industry. Environmental assessment studies have systematically been performed from about 1980. Analyses of indicator organisms which accumulate PAH in high concentrations without apparent detrimental effects, have been used to assess the extent of contamination of water masses. The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), and also its close relative the horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus), appear to be the most important indicators. The large amounts of waste have resulted in considerable contamination of fjord biota and sediments. PAH concentrations in indicator organisms of > 1000 times the background values have been recorded within 1–2 km of the outfalls. Elevated concentrations have been traced for more than 35–40 km. Surface sediment concentrations in the range of some hundred μg total PAH/g dry wt. have been observed. The concentration gradients vary but are generally steep. In several receiving waters, considerable improvements have been recorded shortly after a reduction in output load, and concentrations in mussels have fallen to 1100 of previous values in some cases. Remobilization experiments indicate that ‘hot spot’ accumulations might be of significance.

Statistical considerations in the design and analysis of environmental damage assessment studies

An environmental assessment of chemical and oil-spill effects presents unique statistical problems for both design and analysis. Because of the unplanned and accidental nature of a chemical spill, baseline data are usually absent and the quintessential elements of replication and randomization found in true experiments are absent. Alternative approaches to the design of damage assessment studies are presented that investigate spatial and/or temporal trends in biological responses centered about the spill event. Inferential and logistical limitations of alternative designs are discussed along with consideration of the spatial scale for pseudo-replication and the power of tests of impact. Meta-analysis is suggested to improve both the inferential capabilities and statistical power of damage assessments.

Examples of Groundwater Modelling in Environmental Assessment Studies

ABSTRACTThe development of groundwater modelling techniques is reviewed, from analogue and early digital models to current commercial software packages. The parallel development of the application of groundwater modelling as a tool for evaluating the impact of developments and structures on hydrogeological systems is also examined. Formerly, new model programs were written for each application, requiring that the user had programming skills as well as hydrogeological expertise, and model development periods were measured in months or years. Now, a knowledge of the program details is not necessarily a prerequisite for a satisfactory model, which may be designed, constructed, calibrated and used in days or weeks. However, a thorough understanding of the conceptual model underlying a software package, and of the numerical methods used to generate the output, is as important as ever. Examples are given in the paper of the exploitation of commercial packages to produce rapid assessments of the impact on groundwater of proposed mineral workings and similar developments.

EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT OF POPULATIONS USING ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING, DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS, AND GIS1

ABSTRACT: Simulation of ground‐water flow and fate of contaminants in the subsurface environment constitutes a major phase of most environmental assessment and site remediation studies. These simulation studies yield information on spatial and temporal distributions of contaminants in the subsurface media. An important use of this information is to conduct exposure assessment studies. Spatial and temporal distributions of both chemical concentrations and exposed populations render this integrated exposure analysis task rather difficult. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), on the other hand, provide a platform in which layered, spatially distributed databases can be manipulated with ease, thereby simplifying exposure analysis tasks significantly. In this paper, we describe procedures that combine the simulation models and demographic databases under a GIS platform to automate the exposure assessment phase of a typical health assessment study. Procedures developed herein significantly simplify the post‐processing phase of the analysis, and render the overall task more ‘user friendly.’ A site‐specific application is included as a demonstration of the proposed process.

Absence of persistence and transfer of genetic material by recombinantEscherichia coli in conventional, antibiotic-treated mice

Strain BST-1 is a derivative of Escherichia coli K-12 that carries a plasmid designated pURA-4 and is the expression system used by The Upjohn Company in the production of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbSt). This plasmid also encodes an ampicillin resistance gene. The plasmidless carrier strain, BST-1C, contains a gene for tetracycline resistance which is provided by the chromosomal insertion of the transposon Tn10. Therefore, BST-1 is resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline, while BST-1C is resistant only to tetracycline. The Food and Drug Administration requested that we conduct an environmental assessment study to monitor the 'persistence of the recombinant live K-12 E. coli organism compared to the host E. coli organism'. In addition, we were requested to monitor 'the potential transfer of genetic material from (our) recombinant organism to the indigenous microflora' of the mouse gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The differences in persistence were determined by monitoring shedding of BST-1 and BST-1C in the feces of conventionally reared, outbred mice inoculated with either of the two strains. Even with antibiotic selective pressure applied (tetracycline in the water), BST-1 did not persist as well as the non-plasmid carrying parental stain, BST-1C. In the gene transfer experiments, transfer of pURA-4 was monitored by the appearance of the ampicillin resistance marker and/or by hybridization assays for the rbSt gene in indigenous, mouse-colonizing E. coli strains which had been made streptomycin resistant. At the limit of detection, no transfer of pURA-4 was detected either in vitro or in vivo. These data support an interpretation that BST-1 does not present an environmental hazard as measured by colonization/persistence in the gut of conventionally reared mammals.

Techniques for Wildlife Investigations: Design and Analysis of Capture Data.

Statistical inference in experimentation use of preliminary survey data surveys of animal abundance comparative censuses manipulative experiments environmental assessment studies. Appendices: General variance component formula noncentral F-tables additional noncentral F-tables.

Evidence for the importance of including hydrocarbon oxidation products in environmental assessment studies

To provide evidence for the importance of including hydrocarbon oxidation products in environmental assessment studies, 10 samples of bivalve tissue from Prince William Sound, collected as part of the assessment of the 1989 Valdez Oil Spill were extracted and separated into fractions based on polarity, by normal phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Each fraction was analysed by ultraviolet fluorescence spectroscopy (UVF) and examined for evidence of the presence of oxidation products of aromatic hydrocarbons (O-PAHs). Fluorescence in the wavelengths characteristic of O-PAHs was present in the bivalve extracts and intensity correlated with the amount of petroleum hydrocarbons as determined by gas chromatography (GC). The percentage of UVF intensity in polar fractions compared to the hydrocarbon fractions ranged from 7–85% and corresponded with degree of weathering the oil residues had undergone as determined by their GC patterns. Thus, although UVF is only a semi-quantitative method, these results support the contention that photo and bacterial degradation processes create a complex assemblage of intermediate oxidation products of hydrocarbons that are bioaccumulated in marine organisms. Analytical methodologies applied to marine monitoring and hazard assessments must be extended to include some of the oxidation products formed from the toxicants spilled into the marine environment.

Analytical methods used in oil spill studies

Because of the recent confusion over the concept of ‘legally defensible methods’ for oil spill studies, often believed to be limited to the analysis of specific polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons by gas chromatographymass spectroscopy, I restate the need for a hierarchical scheme of methods to be used in environmental assessment studies. I illustrate the success of using several complementary methods in tandem with examples from the results of the Bahia las Minas (Galeta) Oil Spill Study, and present further evidence for reasons why methods must continue to be developed for an expanded range of polar oxidation products.

Examples of Alternative Use in Toxicology for Common Species

The principle of refinement of animal usage in toxicology dictates that the appropriateness of a particular animal species for a particular protocol or experiment be thoroughly explored. Species are selected all too often on the basis of convenience or tradition. Rats are traditionally used for acute lethality testing and carcinogenicity testing. Dogs are traditionally used as a “nonrodent” species for general toxicity assessments. This review seeks to make the case that, for both scientific and economic reasons, other species can be appropriately substituted for rats or dogs for general toxicity assessment studies. These alternative species need not be totally exotic, but can, in fact, be species used in other areas of toxicology. Earthworms and fish are nonvertebrate animals used in environmental assessment studies. Earthworms could be used for lethality assessment in place of rodents, particularly for “QC batch” release or toxicity rating purposes. Fish could be used to further define hepatic carcinogenicity. Guinea pigs are frequently used for dermatologic studies, but rarely for other purposes. While a rodent, the guinea pig possesses many physiologic and metabolic characteristics that may make it more appropriate than rats for the chronic testing of certain classes of chemicals (NSAIDs, peroxisomal proliferators). Ferrets have been well studied in teratologic assessments, but have not gained wide acceptance as a “nonrodent” model. This review discusses in detail the available technology and published data that justifies the expanded and appropriate use of these “alternative” species. Special emphasis is given to xenobiotic metabolism, which is a major determinant in speciesrelated differences in toxicity.

Effects of data requirements on planning: Case studies of environmental impact assessment and community development block grants

Requirements for agencies to produce and publish data, according to studies reported on here, can help implement legislated policy, make planning better informed, and encourage public officials to be more responsive to underrepresented interests and broad public concerns. Observers often fail to identify such effects because these data are seldom used directly in decisions. Indeed data requirements have increasingly come to be viewed as little more than wasteful paperwork. Field research on Community Development Block Grant Planning and California Environmental Impact Review suggests that although data do occasionally play a direct role in decisions, the data, along with the system for producing and debating them, have more significant indirect influence by shaping the planning process itself. The data requirements change the taken for granted framework of planning—the standard operating procedures, the leverage of participants, and the values that underlie decisions. The requirements help assure the employment of professionals and the development of data bases, which, in turn increase the analytic activities of the agency and the opportunities and capability of citizens to use data. The requirements also redistribute power, lending authority and legitimacy to planners, giving citizens a place in the discussions, and permitting challenges to the status quo. These changes ultimately reshape the terms of the planning debates as the data and the newly empowered participants call attention to issues, assuring that they are on the agenda, and legitimize the criteria they reflect. Moreover the requirements create a norm that data should be used in discussion.

NOAA data service

Beginning this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a new source of information for scientists seeking information on environmental assessment and impact studies, facility site planning, research program planning, project data tracking and management, and new data.The agency's new National Environmental Data Referral Service (NEDRES) is an electronic catalog that identifies the existence, location, characteristics, and availability of conditions of environmental data. NOAA expects NEDRES to develop into a national network serving federal, state, and private organizations. NEDRES now contains about 13,000 data files.

Conceptually simple mathematical models of filtration (and exchange) processes

Abstract Environmental assessment methodologies and studies of element cycling in ecosystems require a quantitative description of each transfer process contributing to the mobility of the entity (or element) under scrutiny. A conceptually simple filtration model is put forward as a candidate description of such a transfer process, appropriate when mobility is impeded by continual capture and release (possibly only partial release) by an interacting medium through which the entity passes. Three variants of the model are described, according to the saturability of the interacting medium and of the mobile host. Their presentation should make them particularly amenable to descriptions of a wide variety of processes which may be perceived in terms of filtration or exchange.

Mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of coal fly ash from fluidized-bed and conventional combustion.

In summary, fly-ash samples from a pressurized fluidized-bed combustion miniplant were found to consist of submicron, irregular particles that were cytotoxic and contained bioavailable mutagens. The fly-ash emission sample from a conventional coal-fired power plant was found to consist of spherical particles that were also cytotoxic but less mutagenic. The FBC fly ash investigated here was collected from an experimental miniplant and should not be considered representative of fly ash that may be obtained in the future from larger commercial-scale FBC plants. Further health and environmental assessment studies of coal fly-ash samples collected at multiple sites, including commercial-scale fluidized-bed and other conventional combustors, are needed to evaluate the potential health effects of coal fly ash from both types of combustion technology.

Environmental Biomonitoring, Assessment, Prediction, and Management-Certain Case Studies and Related Quantitative Issues.John Cairns, Jr. , Ganapati P. Patil , William E. Waters

Previous articleNext article No AccessNew Biological BooksEnvironmental Biomonitoring, Assessment, Prediction, and Management-Certain Case Studies and Related Quantitative Issues. John Cairns, Jr. , Ganapati P. Patil , William E. Waters Peter W. FrankPeter W. Frank Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Quarterly Review of Biology Volume 55, Number 3Sep., 1980 Published in association with Stony Brook University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/411923 Copyright 1980 Stony Brook Foundation, Inc.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Pollution effects on fisheries — potential management activities

Management of ocean pollution must be based on the best available scientific information, with adequate consideration of economic, social, and political realities. Unfortunately, the best available scientific information about pollution effects on fisheries is often fragmentary, and often conjectural; therefore a primary concern of management should be a critical review and assessment of available factual information about effects of pollutants on fish and shellfish stocks. A major problem in any such review and assessment is the separation of pollutant effects from the effects of all the other environmental factors that influence survival and well-being of marine animals. Data from long-term monitoring of resource abundance, and from monitoring of all determinant environmental variables, will be required for analyses that lead to resolution of the problem. Information must also be acquired about fluxes of contaminants through resource-related ecosystems, and about contaminant effects on resource species as demonstrated in field and laboratory experiments. Other possible management activities include: (1) encouragement of continued efforts to document clearly the localized and general effects of pollution on living resources; (2) continued pressure to identify and use reliable biological indicators of environmental degradation (indicators of choice at present are: unusually high levels of genetic and other anomalies in the earliest life history stages; presence of pollution-associated disease signs, particularly fin erosion and ulcers, in fish; and biochemical/physiological changes); and (3) major efforts to reduce inputs of pollutants clearly demonstrated to be harmful to living resources, from point sources as well as ocean dumping. Such pollution management activities, based on continuous efforts in stock assessment, environmental assessment, and experimental studies, can help to insure that rational decisions will be made about uses and abuses of coastal/estuarine waters.

Leach Characteristics of Coal-Gasification Char

A methodology is presented for assessing the potential for release of elements from solid waste resulting from gasification of coal and is applied to the case of a coal char formed from the Hygas steam-oxygen process. The char was subjected to both batch and continuous-flow leach tests under a variety of simulated model water types and environmental conditions. Leachates were analyzed for 25 elements. It is apparent that boron was extracted in potentially environmentally significant quantities in every test and that this element should be monitored closely in future environmental assessment studies on coal conversion-process solid wastes. Batch-extraction studies were good indicators of which elements may be leached but poor indicators of total quantities. This study was performed with subbituminous coal char produced at 63% carbon conversion; additional studies are in progress to assess leaching characteristics of bituminous coal char produced at higher carbon conversion.

Development and Application of a Water Quality Model for Use in an Environmental Assessment

Abstract A model was developed for application in an environmental assessment study to allow predictions to be made of future water quality trends with respect to alternative proposals for expanding uranium mining activities in Elliot Lake, Ontario. Four water quality parameters were determined to be of particular importance in the assessment and were the subject of detailed investigations. Results of the model simulations formed the basis for assessing alternative development strategies and identifying those strategies which were most compatible with protection of the environment.

Decentralized Industrialization and Rural Development: Evidence from Taiwan

After 3 decades of growth, widespread poverty persists in underdeveloped countries. One of the major characteristics of the poor is that a disproportionate number of them are located in rural areas. Since a large number of the rural poor have limited or no access to productive agricultural land, raising agricultural productivity alone may be insufficient to reduce rural poverty. Consequently, attention has now turned to rural nonfarm activities as a possible source of rural employment and income. This paper uses evidence from Taiwan to show that the level of rural nonfarm ac-

Heavy Metals in Sediments from the Central New South Wales Coastal Region

Coastal marine sediments were collected from 20 oceanographic stations along the central New South Wales coastal region in September 1975. Chemical and physical properties of the sediments were determined to establish analytical methods suitable for use in environmental assessment studies. Statistical analyses of the data indicated that this region is typical of an unpolluted continental shelf region, in which the sea bed is mainly composed of sand with some silt.

Construction site noise level impact

Nuclear power plant construction noise impact has been quantified by use of the Equivalent Population Impact (Peq) concept recently used by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to assess the effect of portable air compressor regulation. Numerous construction scenarios, consisting of the constructinn of coal-fired and nuclear power plants with and without cooling towers, were studied. These scenarios were studied using two approaches which considered both the ambient sound level and the change in ambient sound level. An additional method is discussed using a “normalized” Ldn as suggested in EPA “Levels Document” (EPA 550/9-74-004 (1974)). These methods are exemplified using a case study of a recent environmental assessment undertaken for a public utility.